2012 Review

Well its a few months since my last post - lets see whats been happening?

After almost making it through the year I eventually succumbed to the dreaded shin splits in November and have only just started running again since Christmas.

Looking back on 2012 and when I started some gentle running again in February, due to my history of shin pain going back 5 years now, I would never have contemplated making it through to November relatively pain free along the way completing a number of races.

I like to think that much of the success, if I can call keeping the shin pain at bay for 10 months a success,  is due to a number of factors;

1, the strengthening work i have been doing at the gym this past year,
2, regular stretching
3, gradual build up in my running mileage , including plenty of walking breaks in the first half of the year,
4, self awareness and listening to my body. By that I mean taking extra days off if i feel too 'tender' in the shin area. I try to maintain a 3 run in 8 day schedule if I can , ie 2 full rest or cross train days between runs,
5, sports tape - no idea of this helps but if it stays put it seems to provide some support!
6, where ever possible I'll choose to run on the softer grass verges rather than the pavement,
7, the lose of 10kgs of weight in the last 14 months no doubt reduces the stresses that can running place on the muscles, ligaments and joints.
8, plenty of ice and self massage

For some reason though despite all the above I did eventually succumb and had to take a six week break from running as the shin pain became too much to ignore.

I expect this will be an ongoing issue for me and I will need to continue to manage my running to try and avoid too much down time.

If I get another recurrence it may be time to seek some medical help.

So in terms of mileages , last year.   I ran 433 miles,  in a total of 69.5 hours. 

I an in 3 5k races , a 10K and an 11K. 

Goals for 2013 are to build on the work I did last year.  Keep running and building up distances including some longer distance races

If I can stay fit I have a couple of races in my calender for February, March and April.

Whether I make the start line will remain to be seen.